James Anderson: England's Swing Bowler Shames the Kings of Swing Bowling, Pakistan
James Anderson is one of England’s best bowlers at the moment. He showed it during the first Test against Pakistan by taking an amazing 11 wickets (which England won by a resounding 354 runs). He destroyed the entire batting line-up of the Pakistani side, and showed them exactly what can be done with swing bowling. Being a naturally gifted bowler, Anderson now has to show the best he has in the years to come, because the next few years are going to be crucial for him to make a name for himself and prove his worth in the England squad.
Pakistan was all fired up before the Test match against England, having beaten http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 not more than a week ago. Their deadly swing bowling attack of Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif had worked very well for them against the Australians. However, ironically it seems they were undone by a swing bowler. James Anderson levelled the entire Pakistani batting order to a pathetic total of 80 all out. This was their lowest score at a test match in England. Anderson celebrated only the second 10 wicket haul of his career after he reduced the Pakistani total to 80 during the second innings (he took 6 wickets in the second innings, 5 in the first). This impressive wicket haul led his captain Andrew Strauss to declare that he thinks Anderson is the best swing bowler in the world. That is, if he is in form. Over the years, Anderson has had a few problems maintaining his form and he has not been consistently good for his team.
James started playing professional cricket at his club Burnley before he moved to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lancashire-c806, where he only managed to play three One-Day games. The reason for his short spell at the county was because he was called up to represent the national team as a bowler in 2002. He is a genuinely pacey swing bowler and the England team has benefitted on many occasions from his impressive bowling skills. He performed very well during the 2002-2003 season and did a good job for England during the World Cup, but then his form started to waver. The 2004-2005 season was not any better for him, but he managed to keep his place on the England team before succumbing to a back injury. That injury meant that he was sidelined for the entire 2006 season and upon his return in 2007, he did not show the brilliance that he once had. It was only in 2008 when he managed to shine again alongside Stuart Broad, and the pair made a formidable attacking team for their side. Even former test player Andrew Flintoff said that Anderson will be the one bowler to lead England to Ashes glory this year. However, whether he will or not is yet to be seen.
Even though Anderson performed phenomenally well against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 recently, he has been a polarising figure during his seven-and-a-half year career. Some people think he is one of the best bowlers that England has ever produced, while others are not so sure saying that his county record is much better than his International record, and he seems to falter when he plays International cricket. People have not been impressed with his attitude in the past as well as his on and off bowling performance. Fans need someone who can consistently deliver. They cannot seem to find inspiration in a bowler who sometimes manages to get 11 wickets and at other times gets nothing. Well, whatever anyone says about the bowler, he rose to the occasion against Pakistan and managed to show the Pakistanis how swing bowling is supposed to be done. He did not have the perfect conditions for swing bowling, but he was able to manipulate the conditions to suit his bowling perfectly. That is not easy to do and only world class bowlers are able to pull off feats of weather manipulation like that.
A lot has been said about Anderson over the years, but it seems he has finally come into his own and found some very good bowling form. He looks all set to become England’s top bowler in a few years and will see his side to a great many victories. That is, if he can keep up his current form; it is also just as likely that he will disappear for a few years because of some very poor bowling or fall prey to injury. We will have to wait and see what the future holds for this talented bowler, and see what he can do for his country.
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